Armstrong Houston
Armstrong Houston is a Bounty Hunter who appears in the Super Metroid Nintendo Power comics series. Armstong was once saved by Samus Aran in an asteroid field and has since desired to be her partner. He uses a type of Power Suit which is blue with a black visor, and appears more bulky, although it is said in the comics that it possesses lower shielding and the inability to recharge energy. Houston also possesses a gunship similar to Samus' iconic spaceship. He does barely any fighting and is only around to collect bounties such as Space Pirate claws, but he does warn Samus of danger and cheers her on. He seems sort of desperate to be her partner, although that was remarked after a barb from Samus that all he cares about are bounties, and not eliminating the threat of the Space Pirates. When Samus was injured, he questioned why she wanted him to take her to unknown coordinates, but followed through on her request as he was presumably confident she knew what she was doing. He landed on a desolate planetoid inhabited by Old Bird. An unconscious Samus was looked after by Old Bird, who was trying to surmise what went wrong. Since Houston delivered a wounded Samus, Old Bird assumed he could be trusted, and told the story of the fall of the Chozo, the death of Samus' parents and how she was trained to be a fighter. After Samus was healed, Houston seemed to be a more seasoned bounty hunter, having better understood Samus' backstory and the plight of the Chozo. He would not relent in his attempt to become Samus's partner, however. A suit similar to his (blue with an orange visor) was one of the colors for Samus in the ''Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' Multiplayer. While Houston is the only named character in this story not to reappear in the Metroid Manga, he was a recurring character in the Blood of the Chozo interactive online story (set years after Mother Brain's defeat). He is referred to as Houston Barrimonde in this story. Gunship Houston's gunship is a blue vessel similar to Samus's, but with a round top and a tan underbelly. Houston uses it first to follow Samus to Ceres, and then escape with her before its destruction. When Samus's Power Suit is damaged, he uses her gunship to reach the Nest rather than his own. As he is escaping Zebes, the rescued Chairman Keaton and Chief Hardy board his ship. Trivia *Armstrong Houston shares the same initials with another blue-suited acquaintance of Samus Aran, Anthony Higgs. *His name may have originated from the last name of the astronaut Neil Armstrong, and the NASA base of mission control, which is Houston. **It may also be a reference to Captain Dallas from Alien, as both characters were named after a location in the state of Texas. It is also to be noted that the Metroid franchise as a whole has frequently referenced the Alien franchise both prior to and after the comic. Gallery Armstrong.jpg|Armstrong speaking to Old Bird. File:Houston Ship.png|Armstrong's spacecraft. File:AH's ship.png|The ship's cockpit. NP051.jpg|''Blood of the Chozo'' MP2 multiplayer colors.png|All four players square off in a Metroid Prime Trilogy cinematic. The Houston-like color is second from the right. es:Armstrong Houston ru:Армстронг Хьюстон Category:Alive Category:Bounty Hunters Category:Characters Category:Comics Category:Zebes Category:Recurring Characters Category:Ceres Space Colony Category:Tourian Category:Crateria